18.10.2025

The superyacht that steals the show in Netflix's latest thriller 'The Woman in Cabin 10'

The luxurious new thriller might be fictional, but the boat where its drama unfolds is very real.

Photos courtesy of Netflix.

Words: Nina

 

Director Simon Stone spent less than 24 hours in the Caribbean, but those fleeting moments were enough to secure the crown jewel of his latest film. The occasion? A rendezvous with Savannah, a 274-foot superyacht that would become the pulsating heart of The Woman in Cabin 10, now streaming on Netflix.

This isn't your garden-variety thriller prop. Savannah is a six-suite masterpiece boasting amenities that read like a billionaire's fever dream: onboard spa, gymnasium, beauty salon. Yet Stone and his team including Keira Knightley, Hannah Waddingham, and Guy Pearce, transformed this floating palace into something far more sinister than its Instagram-ready exterior suggests.

In The Woman in Cabin 10, Keira Knightley portrays a journalist invited aboard the superyacht of a billionaire played by Guy Pearce.

Netflix


When Luxury Becomes Claustrophobic

The production commandeered Savannah for nearly three weeks off the coast of Dorset, England. While certain interiors were recreated on soundstage - hallways, select cabins, one crucial climactic scene - the vast majority unfolds aboard the actual vessel. Stone's rule was simple: "Everything you see that has the boat interacting with water is real." Authenticity, it turns out, doesn't bend to CGI convenience.

But here's the paradox: filming aboard a superyacht proved to be the antithesis of luxury. Production designer Alice Normington puts it bluntly: "Most of us would not want to spend two weeks on this yacht." The crew operated under strict maritime protocol. No food, no drinks, not even a coffee cup between takes. The irony wasn't lost on anyone: surrounded by extreme opulence while experiencing extreme deprivation.

The superyacht used in the film is privately owned and was found with the help of a yacht broker.

Netflix


Designed to Disturb

Normington and Stone deliberately subverted the yacht's inherent glamour. They darkened the naturally sun-drenched cabins, constructed mirrored hallways that multiplied dread, and added that quintessential thriller element - the unsettling library. "We wanted it to be more Hitchcock than Agatha Christie," Normington explains. The goal wasn't to showcase wealth; it was to weaponize it.

The yacht is meticulously curated design. What Stone describes as "reserved, considered reflection" became a trap. In Ware's adaptation, journalist Laura boards for a story and witnesses what she believes is a passenger thrown overboard. But in these gilded corridors and polished teak decks, her reality becomes unreliable. Paranoia festers in perfection.

Finnbarr Webster//Getty Images

 

The Aspirational Nightmare

Stone articulates the film's underlying tension perfectly: "There's something about a superyacht so distant from the average human's experience that it feels like visiting a medieval castle. People associate these spaces with inherent danger as well as aspiration."

The achievement here transcends thriller mechanics. By transforming an object of desire into an instrument of psychological horror, The Woman in Cabin 10 proves that the most effective cage is often the one we'd pay to enter. Savannah isn't just a setting. It's a character study in how extreme privilege can become its own prison. Beautiful, isolating, and utterly inescapable.

About the Author

Nina, Beauty, Wellness & Lifestyle Editor

Rooted in the sensual pleasures of life, Nina is a Taurus at heart—drawn to beauty, comfort, and timeless indulgence. Her writing for GC reflects a deep appreciation for the art of living well, from restorative wellness rituals and luxurious escapes to the pleasures of a perfectly crafted meal. With an instinct for aesthetics and a devotion to quality, Nina curates experiences that soothe the senses and elevate the soul. For her, elegance isn't just a style—it's a way of being.

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